Work Text:
Law first noticed the stems of the sunflowers, creeping up his arm a day into his stay at Maiden Island. The surgeon had been so preoccupied with saving Straw Hat Luffy’s life that he hadn’t noticed that it was actually starting to grow at a steady pace.
Law had noticed the seed on his inner forearm was starting to open and sprout, but he hadn’t put much thought into it. He had surmised that he had encountered his soulmate at Sabaody, but he hadn’t expected the flower to continue to grow. He had put distance between himself and almost everyone he had encountered on Sabaody. He thought going to Marineford would freeze the growth of the flower - it did not.
Trafalgar Law had had his fair share of experiences with the so-called “Soul Flowers” that littered people’s arms. Some people had many flowers that filled their entire arms, like Strawhat-ya and other people, most people, like him, had only two. One for their romantic soulmate, on their dominant wrist, and one for their platonic soulmate, on their non-dominant wrist. The one on his dominant wrist had been a seed for a long time. The one on his other wrist had been dead for a long time.
The flowers were like a Vive Card in a way. The way the Vive Card would burn and smolder when the person it was linked, was close to death. It was similar to the way the flower on one’s wrist would wither and die. Unlike Vive Cards, It was easy for people to look at someone and tell that someone they were close to was now dead and gone.
Law knew for the sake of his sanity that he needed to bury himself in his work. Forget about the sunflower that was starting to sprout and spread across his inner dominant arm. He pushed the door to the recovery room open, his golden eyes instantly landing on Strawhat Luffy.
“Ah, Captain, I was wondering when you would come along. I noticed something interesting when I was bandaging Straw Hat up.” Shachi had been tending to Luffy while Law was getting some much needed rest. The surgery to save the other captain’s life had lasted longer than Law had wanted. He would have admitted to anyone that asked, but it was certainly the hardest procedure he had done to date. And he was proud of himself because he had succeeded.
Shachi watched Law closely as he stopped at Strawhat’s bedside. Law could feel his eyes boring into him. “I have a good guess as to what it was.” He finally spoke as he sat down in a chair next to his bed. He picked up the straw hat that had been set to the side and ran his fingers across the brim.
Law’s sharp piercing golden eyes finally turned back to his long time friend, pinning the redhead in place with a single stare. “You will tell no one of this.” It wasn’t a request, it was an order.
Shachi nodded and swallowed audibly. His crew mate knew what the Soul Flowers meant to his Captain and it was better to not push him on the “issue”. “You got it, Boss.” The man kept nodding. “It’s already covered by the bandages, no one else will see, if we leave before he wakes up.”
“See to it, that we do.” Law said, his eyes catching the dead flower on his left arm as he dismissed his crewmember from his presence. The Begonia Rex had once been a sight to see. It spanned across Law’s left arm and before that person had died, it had almost touched his shoulder blade. Now, the flower had wilted and died and looked up at him as a forever reminder of the person he had lost.
Law glanced at Straw Hat one more time and at that point he decided he wasn’t going to let the sunflowers on his right arm die. If he had to put distance between them to make sure that happened, that is exactly what he would do.
He didn’t want to have to look at two dead flowers every time he opened his eyes. This time he was saving the person the flower was linked to.
-
Monkey D. Luffy had tons of flowers and foliage on his left arm. There was a vibrant Delphinium that wove its way around several pieces of Wisteria. There was a red flower, that Sabo had identified as a Canna Lily when they were younger, that was bright and strong and beautiful for a good majority of Luffy’s life. The day it died Luffy noticed another flower, on the opposite arm.
He noticed it had gotten bigger, when Rayleigh and he had started training. Luffy didn’t ask questions about it, he just ran his fingers across the blooming white flower, whenever he had time to himself. He wanted to know what kind of flower it was. He wanted to know who it belonged to. He wanted to know why. Why did one flower have to die for the other to appear? He always kept those questions to himself. He didn’t talk about the flower to anyone for a long time.
It was actually Nami who had brought it up first. It was at dinner, the first night the whole crew had come back together. Luffy was laughing happily and stretching his arm out to grab at any extra food there was.
“Oi, Luffy,” Nami scolded in her normal manner, as Luffy tried to take a piece of meat from her plate. She had caught his wrist in her hand and the whole table had gone quiet. Luffy was sure they had seen the dead Canna Lily before this point. He had seen their lingering stares where the flower was on his left arm. He was pretty sure the only person who didn’t look was Zoro and Luffy really appreciated that. No one had spoken on the flower, because really what was there to speak on? It was dead and they all knew who had died along with it. None of them had been there, but they knew the grief would stay for a long time.
“When did…This wasn’t…” Nami kept trying to find the right words as she stared down at the white budding flower.
“Our Captain has encountered his Soulmate.” Robin finally said, her tone was fond and caring. It almost made Luffy blush, because it had been such a long time since he had heard her soothing tone. “I believe that is a flower called the Queen of the Night.” The archeologist said knowledgeably. “The flowers only bloom once a night and then are gone by the morning.” She said with a fond smile.
Luffy looked down at the flower on his wrist. As far as he knew the flower had stayed ever since that day. The rubber Captain snapped his arm back into place and pouted slightly as he looked at Nami and rubbed the spot where she had been gripping.
“Do you know who it is?” Usopp suddenly blurred out.
Luffy shook his head and shrugged. “Doesn’t really matter.” He claimed, though deep down inside he knew he was lying. Of course it mattered. The flowers had always mattered, he just didn’t want to believe that this one did too.
“What’s for dessert?” Zoro interrupted before anyone else could say anything.
“Nothing for you!” Sanji snapped right back.
The table devolved back into the normal rowdiness that the Straw Hats were known for. Everyone else had joined back into conversation except for Luffy as he stared down at the flower for a moment longer. He too wondered…Who?
-
It felt wrong…it felt so wrong. At least before Marineford, Law could say that he saved Luffy’s life and didn’t know any better. He did it without thinking. He did it without knowing…
Well, now he knew Monkey D. Luffy was his soulmate and Law had willingly agreed to be in an alliance with him. And this alliance was only leading to Law’s death. He wasn’t one hundred percent sure why he agreed to the alliance. There were a couple of reasons. He hadn’t been thinking about their connection to each other. He was thinking of how strong and valuable Luffy was in a fight. He hadn’t thought of the grief it might bring Luffy, he was selfish and wanted Luffy to survive and not himself.
He tried to hide the blooming flower for as long as possible. He didn’t want some mark hindering Luffy’s decision. He needed to trust Law as he was, not feel obligated.
Punk Hazard was cold. It was easy to hide there.
The trip from Punk Hazard to Dressrosa was warm, but Law compensated with a thinner long sleeved shirt. He realized that his plan was useless, shortly after that. He could literally watch the flower growing up Luffy’s arm the longer they stayed close by each other. Law didn’t think Luffy was as smart as him, but he wasn’t oblivious either.
Law had been guarding Caesar when the first Straw Hat approached him to speak on the flower. The Heart Captain wasn’t surprised when that turned out to be the Straw Hat’s Vice Captain. Law hadn’t missed the lingering stares of the other swordsman. He was subtle, but Law had been around stares like his before.
Zoro approached Law after everyone else had gone to sleep. The sniper had taken watch in the crow’s nest, but the swordsman didn’t seem concerned with him listening in on whatever he was going to say. That made Law worry a little less in return.
He didn’t speak for a long time, just sat on the bench surrounding the mast pole and stared at Caesar with Law. He wasn’t sure why Zoro just sat there for so long without saying a word, but Law did not intend to start the conversation himself.
“How long have you known?” Zoro wasn’t stupid and Law wasn’t about to pretend he was. He knew exactly what he was saying. He didn’t look over at him, he just kept staring at Caesar, who was peacefully sleeping.
“Since Marineford,” he responded. Zoro grunted softly, but then went silent for a while. Law glanced over at him after the silence stretched for longer than what was comfortable. The swordsman had a deep set frown. He seemed to be deep in thought, which was surprising to Law. Zoro didn’t seem like the type to think over what he said. He seemed more like his captain, in the way that he wouldn’t hold back what was on his mind.
“Why do you want to go to Dressrosa so badly?” The green haired man questioned, his good eye flicked over to Law, pinning him in place.
“Straw Hat-ya did not discuss with you why we formed our alliance?” Law asked, his eyebrow shooting up in surprise. The frown seemed to turn into a scowl now.
“That wasn’t what I asked.” Zoro said pointedly. Law wasn’t sure where all this hostility was coming from. Did he not believe him? Did he question his motives? Zoro grumbled softly and turned to face Law fully now. His eyes skipped over his arms, then he extended his own arms for Law to see.
The Heart Captain felt very uncomfortable all of a sudden. He had never outwardly looked at someone’s Soul Flowers. His mother had told him it was rude to stare at such things. Lami had still stared anyway. He let out a small sigh through his nose, as Zoro kept his one good eye trained on Law. He looked over the flowers stretching across the swordsman’s arms. There were only two, but the flowers intertwined with each other. It looked as though both flowers started on one arm, then moved up his left arm and back down his right. Law surmised that they must stretch out across his back.
One of the flowers was a sunflower, its stem looked strong and unbreakable. The other flower looked more delicate, it was a purple or blue sort of color. Law had seen the flower before, it was also on Luffy’s skin; a delphinium. It had been on Luffy’s left arm and had mingled with the wisteria that was also there. Law would have been lying if he said he hadn’t inspected the flowers that covered Luffy’s left arm after his surgery. If he thought about it too much he could still smell burnt flesh.
The two flowers were so intermingled that Law was unsure if Luffy was actually Zoro’s Soulmate. Sure, there were bound to be more people out there with sunflowers on their arms, but this was too coincidental. Law must have let a look cross his face, because Zoro spoke up.
“I don’t have a dominant hand.” He stated, simple as that. He brought his arms back down to his side and fixed Law with one last look. “Why do you want to go to Dressrosa so badly?” He questioned again. “It’s not because of Kaido. You sent your nakama ahead, you didn’t want them to be there for whatever is going to happen.” Law was surprised at the green haired man's perceptiveness. He expected it from Robin, but Zoro…no way.
He wasn’t about to spill his whole life to a man he hardly knew. “I plan to die on Dressrosa.” The surgeon said, looking away and out to sea.
Zoro shook his head and huffed. “Luffy won’t let that happen.”
-
Of course Luffy didn’t Law die. The rubber captain saw the look in Law’s golden eyes and knew he had to help him. He knew the other captain wasn’t going to outright ask for his help, so Luffy had to just do it anyway. He was never one to hold back on his impulses. Luffy knew Law was his soulmate, but he did not bring it up once. He saw no need.
The first time they actually spoke on it was after they joined up with the minks on Zou. It was late, everyone else was sleeping. Luffy would have been too, but the stars had captured his attention and he laid on his back staring up at them with wide eyes.
“You didn’t have to save me just because I am your soulmate.” Law’s voice sounded tired and vexed. He stood over Luffy, arms crossed, a scowl on his face.
The rubber captain sat up almost instantly. His brows furrowed in confusion. He shook his head and opened his mouth, but alas cut him off before he could say anything.
“If you are going to let your emotions get in the way, I think it is best that we call off our alliance.” Law’s eyes darted all around, never once connecting with Luffy’s. The Heart Captain opened his mouth to speak again, but Luffy jumped up, before he could say anything he could regret.
“I didn’t save you ‘cause of that.” The boy said, jutting his lower lip out. “I don’t care about that stuff, I never have. I saved Torao because he’s a good guy.”
Law rolled his eyes and huffed through his nose. “I’m not a good guy, Straw Hat-ya.” He stated. “I’m a pirate.”
Luffy just smiled widely. “Your Nakama.” He said, leaving no room for argument.
The flower on Luffy’s right arm seemed to glow under the moonlight. The sunflower on Law’s arm seemed to be just a little stronger.